SMOKERS TAKE LAST DRAG AT CASINOS

March 16, 2007

The days may be dwindling for one of the last holdouts for unfettered smokers' rights: casinos. Next month, Atlantic City will make smoking off-limits on 75 percent of the gambling floor in each of its 11 casinos. The casinos are currently excluded from a 2006 statewide smoking ban in bars, restaurants and other workplaces. Legislation for an outright ban is working its way through the New Jersey Legislature.

To some, puffing on a cigarette while gambling is like munching on a hot dog at a baseball game, comfortable habits that go hand in hand. Smoking bans in workplaces or public spaces exist in 21 states and now casinos are starting to stamp out smoking, too.

Colorado's House of Representatives voted Feb. 28 to include casinos in an existing ban on smoking in bingo halls, dog tracks and most other indoor venues.

Rhode Island state Rep. Amy Rice, a Democrat, introduced a bill on March 1 to end a smoking ban exemption for gambling venues.

Bill's Casino Lake Tahoe in Stateline, Nev., went smoke-free in December, and the Tropicana Atlantic City casino is considering it

Lawmakers in Pennsylvania and Illinois are including casinos in proposed legislation to ban smoking.

Commercial casinos, which generated $30 billion in gambling revenue in 2005, are concerned that smoking bans could drive patrons to states where they can smoke or to tribal casinos not subject to local laws.

A study by a former gambling industry professor at the University of Louisville examined the impact of a 2002 smoking ban in Delaware. It found that there was an average 15 percent decrease in betting at gambling venues.